April 30, 2025
How did we start the Competitive College Club 2025?
Article prepared by Nikola Princova, student leader of CCC Latvia
Hi, everyone!
My name is Nikola, and this year I was selected as the leader of our lovely CCC Latvia group, and I really hope you enjoy this short story about how we began our journey in this amazing program—and who knows, hopefully next year you’ll apply too! So, let’s dive in!
Everything began with a “congratulations” letter and, of course, an opening session led by our wonderful adviser, Asnate. During this session, we got an overview of how the program works and learned about some foundational aspects. I really appreciate how well everything is organized. We have our CCC calendar, which helps us manage our time and includes key details about upcoming sessions. I also like the assignment reminders—because let’s be honest, we all forget things sometimes! And that’s not all—we also have a students-only chat that’s super active. We support each other, share thoughts about the webinars, and keep each other motivated. It’s such a great space to connect!
Then, some days later, on April 8, we had our first webinar, “Expert Tips on Researching Your Options: Choosing the Right U.S. College Based on Experience in the U.S. and Baltic States” by Heidi Erbsen, and some of my key takeaways were:
– Apply to more than one university
– Don’t limit your choices by cost
– Reach out to alumni of your desired university
– Before applying to universities, ask yourself these questions: What do you want to study? Where do you want to study? What are your hobbies, and can you continue them at your desired university?
Later, on April 10, we were joined by Zsuzsanna Kovacs to explore university systems, academic opportunities, and what makes NYU Abu Dhabi special. And for those who are interested in NYU, here are some interesting things that I heard:
– All 3 of NYU's campuses use 1 application;
– NYU provides need-based financial aid;
– Not all majors are available on all NYU campuses.
To sum up everything we did in our first month, I’d say we did a pretty great job—not only did we attend some amazing webinars, but we also learned a lot of new information that will definitely help us on our journeys to U.S. universities. For those of you who couldn’t attend our CCC sessions, I most definitely encourage you to check out the EducationUSA YouTube channel, where you can follow the live streams about many different topics as well as watch stream recordings (I’ll put the links below). Also, we started working on our first serious assignment, and to be honest, it was really exciting. Can’t wait to tell you all about it in next month's blog!
Stay tuned!
Link to Education USA Virtual YouTube channel: EducationUSA Virtual
Yours sincerely,
Nikola Princova
My name is Nikola, and this year I was selected as the leader of our lovely CCC Latvia group, and I really hope you enjoy this short story about how we began our journey in this amazing program—and who knows, hopefully next year you’ll apply too! So, let’s dive in!
Everything began with a “congratulations” letter and, of course, an opening session led by our wonderful adviser, Asnate. During this session, we got an overview of how the program works and learned about some foundational aspects. I really appreciate how well everything is organized. We have our CCC calendar, which helps us manage our time and includes key details about upcoming sessions. I also like the assignment reminders—because let’s be honest, we all forget things sometimes! And that’s not all—we also have a students-only chat that’s super active. We support each other, share thoughts about the webinars, and keep each other motivated. It’s such a great space to connect!
Then, some days later, on April 8, we had our first webinar, “Expert Tips on Researching Your Options: Choosing the Right U.S. College Based on Experience in the U.S. and Baltic States” by Heidi Erbsen, and some of my key takeaways were:
– Apply to more than one university
– Don’t limit your choices by cost
– Reach out to alumni of your desired university
– Before applying to universities, ask yourself these questions: What do you want to study? Where do you want to study? What are your hobbies, and can you continue them at your desired university?
Later, on April 10, we were joined by Zsuzsanna Kovacs to explore university systems, academic opportunities, and what makes NYU Abu Dhabi special. And for those who are interested in NYU, here are some interesting things that I heard:
– All 3 of NYU's campuses use 1 application;
– NYU provides need-based financial aid;
– Not all majors are available on all NYU campuses.
To sum up everything we did in our first month, I’d say we did a pretty great job—not only did we attend some amazing webinars, but we also learned a lot of new information that will definitely help us on our journeys to U.S. universities. For those of you who couldn’t attend our CCC sessions, I most definitely encourage you to check out the EducationUSA YouTube channel, where you can follow the live streams about many different topics as well as watch stream recordings (I’ll put the links below). Also, we started working on our first serious assignment, and to be honest, it was really exciting. Can’t wait to tell you all about it in next month's blog!
Stay tuned!
Link to Education USA Virtual YouTube channel: EducationUSA Virtual
Yours sincerely,
Nikola Princova
EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State network of over 430 international student advising centers in more than 175 countries and territories.
EducationUSA Virtual
EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State network of over 430 international student advising centers in more than 175 countries and territories.